How to remove extra Windows old folder. How to delete the windows old folder (old Windows)

The Windows.old folder is automatically created in root directory disk with the operating system installed after updating it to the latest version. It stores copies of files from the previous OS, which are used when “rolling back” the system.

Important! If you have previously updated your OS to new version, or did a reinstallation in update mode, there will be several such folders. They are called Windows.old.000.

If the computer has a small volume internal storage, deleting a folder will save space because it takes up 20 GB of memory.

Deleting folders

You need to delete old files only when the computer is working stably, you have updated the OS to the latest version and do not intend to return to the “seven” or “eight” in the future.

Using the Disk Cleanup utility

IN latest versions operating system it became possible to delete this file through settings. Let's consider the option for a new one Windows builds 10, and for earlier ones.

Build 1803 April Update and newer

Starting with build 1803, which was released in the spring of 2018, you can delete files from the previous OS from the system settings:

1. Go to “Settings” through the “Start” menu (or with the Win+I key combination).
2. Item “System” → “Device memory”.
   
3. “Memory control” → “Free up space now.”
   
   

   Pay attention! The scanning process may take more than a few minutes.

4. Check the box next to “Previous Windows installations».
5. At the top of the window, click “Delete Files.”

After the process is completed, the Windows.old folder will disappear on the system disk and will not take up space on the drive.

Previous builds of Windows 10

Pay attention! This instruction relevant for OS builds lower than 1803.

1. Go to " My computer» (under the Administrator entry) and on the disk with the installed operating system by clicking right click mouse, select the section " Properties».
   
   
2. "Properties system disk» → “Disk Cleanup”
   
   

   Healthy! The utility can be opened with the “cleanmgr” command:
   Win+R → Run → cleanmgr → select the volume with the operating system

   
3. Click " Clear system files ».
   
4. After re-analysis, select “” in the window and click “OK”.
   

   Important! For additional cleaning free space also select items:

   • temporary OS installation files;
   • OS update log files.
   
5. Confirm deleting files.
   

You can watch the video for more details on the process of deleting this folder:

Via Command Line

1. Start Menu → Search → Command Prompt(under the Administrator account).
2. Type: rd /s /q c:\windows.old

Through the Command Line when restarting the computer

Conclusion

You can delete folders with a previous version of the operating system in one of three ways. The editors recommend using removal using the Disk Cleanup utility. This method is safer and more reliable.

Removal method	Reliability	Speed	Complexity	Editor's rating
	Average	High	Low	1
	High	Average	Average	2
Command line on reboot	High	low	High	3

When a user upgrades his operating system to Windows 10, a Windows.old folder appears on his hard drive. However, this directory often takes up valuable memory - its volume is not limited to several tens of gigabytes. This raises the question of whether it is possible to remove Windows.old from the system disk and avoid unwanted consequences.

Windows.old: what is this folder

The Windows.old directory appears precisely after an OS upgrade. This can be considered a manifestation of Microsoft's concern for the user: all data on the previous version of the system is stored in the folder, so that you can return to it at any moment. It often happens that the user is not satisfied with the new OS for some reason. In other words, the Windows.old directory is needed to restore the previous system. It is stored in memory for 30 days, after which Win 10 deletes the folder itself, although not always entirely.

The Windows.old folder appears on the system drive after Windows updates and is stored there for a month

In this directory you can find various files from the version of the OS that was on the computer before - they can be of value to the user. Windows.old includes the following sections:

• Windows, which contains system files;
• Documents and Settings, where all documents and settings of the previous OS are stored;
• Program Files with program files, previously installed on this PC.

Is it possible to remove Windows.old in Win 10

If you have worked with the “ten” and realized that the OS is completely satisfied with you and there are no rollbacks to previous version is not required, and there are no files or documents of interest left in the directory, then you can safely delete it. In the end, a dozen or two freed up gigabytes never hurt anyone.

How to remove Windows.old in Win 10

If you have already tried to simply remove the Windows.old directory from your PC traditional way, then you were disappointed: when you press the traditional button in such cases Delete keys nothing happens. Sometimes the combination works Shift keys+ Del, but this is rather an exception to the rule. To get rid of this folder there are several quite simple ways, including standard Windows tools.

Video: The two easiest methods to remove Windows.old

Via Disk Cleanup

The Windows.old directory can usually be deleted without problems using standard tool Win 10 Disk Cleanup. To do this you need to take the following steps:

1. Press the Win + R buttons simultaneously and enter the command “cleanmgr” in the line that appears.
2. The Disk Cleanup utility window will appear on the screen. In the lower left side, select "Clean up system files."
3. In the new window, find the section “ Previous installations Windows", check the box and click "OK" to confirm your actions.
4. The system will show a warning that you can delete important system data - in our case we do not pay attention to this. After a short period of time, the Windows.old directory will be completely erased from the PC.

Photo gallery: step-by-step instructions for deleting the Windows.old folder using Disk Cleanup

Click Win keys+ R and type the command “cleanmgr” In the utility window, select “Clean up system files” and click “OK” Check the “Previous Windows installations” checkbox and click “OK” Wait until the system deletes the Windows.old folder

Via command line

You can also erase the Windows.old directory using command line. To do this you need to perform several steps:

To delete the Windows.old folder, enter “RD /S /Q C:\windows.old” in the command line and press Enter

Through the "Task Scheduler"

This method sometimes works if the previous two did not lead to the desired result. The sequence of actions is as follows:

1. Launch Task Scheduler: In Windows 10, this is easiest to do by searching in the Start menu. It can also be opened through the “Control Panel” (section “System and Security”, then at the bottom in the “Administration” item, select “Task Schedule”). Similar to calling the “Control Panel,” by right-clicking the mouse, you can select the “Computer Management” line from the drop-down menu. In the section " Utilities» “Task Scheduler” will appear.
2. In the Scheduler library, you need to open the Windows directory in the Microsoft branch and select the Setup subsection.
3. Click SetupCleanupTask. In the default settings, the Windows.old folder will be erased a month from the date of the system upgrade. Change the task execution date, and “Scheduler” will delete Windows.old at the time you need.

Photo gallery: step-by-step instructions for removing Windows.old using Windows Task Scheduler

"Task Scheduler" in Windows 10 can be found in the "Control Panel" in the "System and Security" section ("Administration") In the "Scheduler" library, open the following folders: Microsoft - Windows - Setup In the SetupCleanupTask section, change the execution date of the task to delete the folder Windows.old to the required

Using third party programs

Many people prefer to use “undeletable” directories like Windows.old to erase CCleaner program and its analogues. This the right approach, because the utility is able to quickly cope with such a task. If you don't have CCleaner installed, you should download it. installation file on a PC from the developer’s website and install the program.

To remove Windows.old via CCleaner application in the “Cleaning” section, select the “Other” (“Advanced”) category and check the box next to “ Old installation Windows" ("Old Windows Installation»)

After launching CCleaner, you need to find the “Other” tab, go to the “Old Windows Installation” line, tick it and start cleaning. The question of whether to delete “Event Logs” can be answered positively. The program will quickly produce necessary actions and will issue a report with a complete list of files that were deleted. The amount of freed memory will also be indicated.

What to do if the Windows.old directory is not deleted

As a rule, the Windows.old directory is completely erased from the system disk using one of the methods listed above. When using the command line method, ensure that all characters are typed correctly and that there are no extra spaces in the commands.

When the contents of the Windows.old directory are not of interest to you, you can safely delete it. This folder is erased from the PC in several ways if you need a free disk space, - the directory really takes up a significant amount of space. Please note: if any files from the previous Windows versions you need, take appropriate measures to save them, because the system itself will delete Windows.old after a month.

Hello, regular and new guests of my blog! Those of you who have updated software on your computer have probably noticed a new, unfamiliar directory appearing on drive C under named Windows old, what kind of folder is this, I’ll tell you now.

What, why and why

Deleting a folder

If the folder is an eyesore and you don’t want to wait a month, then you can delete it too. In the Start menu, type “cmd” into the search and run the found program as administrator from the menu that opens with a right-click.

When prompted, allow the program to make changes on the computer. In the list that appears, select “Run as administrator”.

In the window that appears, enter the underlined command as indicated in the image.

It's done! Now all that remains from the folder are memories.

A simple conclusion can be drawn from this situation: to effectively manage your data and productive work You need to know a lot of subtleties and secrets when using a computer.

Personally, the course helped me a lot to increase the productivity of my activities “ Secrets of productive work at the computer ". I recommend that you pay attention to it and spend your time with maximum benefit, having time to have a good rest and be with loved ones.

Well, that's all, friends. I hope that the article is clear, detailed and useful for you. Follow extra rubbish and don’t forget to clean your workspace and computer regularly. And also try not to clutter your head with low-quality information!

Subscribe to my blog updates, follow my VK group and tell your friends about them. Good luck!

Often, PC problems are solved by reinstalling the operating system or updating it. After such actions, a folder with the old version of the OS appears on the hard drive, it is a kind of backup copy and contains all the files of the previous software. The only disadvantage of this folder is that it takes up a lot of space on your hard drive and in case you urgently need to free up space, the best solution will be its removal. However, many users have encountered this situation and know that using standard methods files are not deleted. Today we will figure out what it isWindows.old, how to removeunnecessary folder. Let's look at a few effective methods removal.

As mentioned above, the folder appears immediately after updating to a new version of the operating system or after it complete reinstallation. The first thing that confuses users is the huge weight of the file; some, due to inexperience, even believe that this is a consequence of activity malware or . Especially after standard methods fail to remove Windows.old.

In fact, the object is completely harmless and in some cases may even be useful to the user; from there you can take the necessary data, for example, the user’s profile. As a rule, the folder is located in the root directory of the system drive and the only trouble is that it takes up a lot of space (sometimes up to 20 GB of memory). Moreover, if such a folder already exists at the time of updating or reinstallation, then a replacement does not occur, but a new document with individual serial number. In this connection, even more space on the hard drive is consumed.

In general, the mission of the Windows.old folder is to give the user the opportunity to restore some necessary files or completely roll back to the previous version of the OS if problems started with the current one. That is, this is a complete archive of the previous installation and if you are sure that there will be no need for it (there is no need to restore old files, the new operating system behaves perfectly and pleases with performance, etc.), then it can be deleted without harm to the system.

Windows.old, how to remove

So, we figured out what kind of folder this is and how it appears on the PC. If the user is sure that it is no longer needed, then you can safely proceed to deletion. Attempts to free up space using conventional methods lead to failure, since such a procedure requires special rights. Next we will look at what methods allow you to get rid ofWindows.old, how to remove unnecessary files, read on.

Recommendations for Windows 7

First, let's look at the removal instructions desired folder for version 7 of the operating system. There is nothing complicated here, just follow the step-by-step algorithm described below.

It is worth noting that these actions are not always enough. Often, after such manipulations, the contents of the Windows.old folders simply disappear, while the folder itself remains in place and is displayed in Explorer. To completely remove empty objects, just call the command line and enter the task to be executed in it: rd /s /q c:\windows.old. Then press Enter and wait for the command to complete, this takes a few seconds and then you won't see anything elseWindows.old, how to removeshe will also stop bothering you.

Removal for OS version 10

IN this section we will look at the possibilities for the 1803 April Update, which introduced convenient additions, allowing you to quickly solve the problem. We will also offer standard method, suitable for 10 as well as 8 versions of the operating system.

Windows 10 1803 April Update

This OS version adds the long-awaited automatic cleaning disk and at the same time retaining the ability manual organization process. So, to solve the deletion issue, follow the described algorithm.

All that remains is to wait for the process to complete and make sure that the object we need is deleted from hard drive and no longer takes up space on it. This method is much more convenient than that available in previous versions of the OS; it does not require administrator rights and performs uninstallation without unnecessary difficulties.

Previous versions of Windows 10 and 8

If you updated the operating system and did not launch it, then you will definitely find Windows.old among system folders. IN in this case you need to act as follows.

As a result, all contents of Windows.old will be deleted; to completely clean up the disk and delete an empty folder, just use the method described for version 7 of the OS and run the command rd /s /q c:\windows.old.

Have you noticed that as soon as you install a new version of Windows or update old version before Windows 10, then a folder called Windows.old appears on your hard drive? Moreover, this folder can reach very respectable sizes. You may have a completely logical question “ Windows.old - what is this folder?"This folder combines files from a previous, older version of the operating system, but they do not play any significant role in the new one.

Is it possible to delete the Windows.old folder? The answer is definitely yes. Usually this folder created for the purpose quick recovery previous version of the system. If before installing a new version of Windows you forgot to copy important files from your desktop, you can find these files in the Windows.old folder. However, during the removal process, you may encounter problems. This article will describe several ways to delete the Windows.old folder.

Methods to remove the Windows.old folder from your computer

Uninstall using Disk Cleanup

If the Windows.old folder is not deleted, then this method will be the easiest and in a fast way. To do this, click on “Start” and open “Computer”.

Then select the properties of drive C and in the “General” tab and click on “Disk Cleanup”. After clicking, you will be presented with a list of files that you can check. Now just check the box next to “Previous Windows installations” and the Windows.old folder will be deleted.

Uninstall using the command line

In order to remove Windows.old using this method, you must have administrator rights. Now press the key combination Win+R and type the command in the window that appears cmd, and then click “OK”.

In the black command line window, you need to enter “ Rd /s /q C:\Windows.old" (without quotes) and press Enter. After this action, the Windows.old folder should be deleted.

Removal using the Unlocker utility

If the methods described above did not help you and you are still tormented by the question “how to remove Windows.old”, then a rather small and simple utility called Unlocker will help you with this.

First you need to download and run it. In the program window, select Windows.old and click on the OK button. Next, select the desired “Delete” command. After a short period of time, the utility will complete its task.